U.S. patent number 8,988,087 [Application Number 13/154,161] was granted by the patent office on 2015-03-24 for touchscreen testing.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC. The grantee listed for this patent is John Graham Pierce, Takahiro Shigemitsu, David A. Stevens, Aleksandar Uzelac, Briggs A. Willoughby, Weidong Zhao. Invention is credited to John Graham Pierce, Takahiro Shigemitsu, David A. Stevens, Aleksandar Uzelac, Briggs A. Willoughby, Weidong Zhao.
United States Patent |
8,988,087 |
Uzelac , et al. |
March 24, 2015 |
Touchscreen testing
Abstract
Touchscreen testing techniques are described. In one or more
implementations, a conductor is placed proximal to a touchscreen
device and the touchscreen device is tested by simulating a touch
of a user by placing the conductor in a grounded state and lack of
a touch by the user by placing the conductor in an ungrounded
state.
Inventors: |
Uzelac; Aleksandar (Seattle,
WA), Stevens; David A. (Sammamish, WA), Zhao; Weidong
(Redmond, WA), Shigemitsu; Takahiro (Bellevue, WA),
Willoughby; Briggs A. (Newcastle, WA), Pierce; John
Graham (Sammamish, WA) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Uzelac; Aleksandar
Stevens; David A.
Zhao; Weidong
Shigemitsu; Takahiro
Willoughby; Briggs A.
Pierce; John Graham |
Seattle
Sammamish
Redmond
Bellevue
Newcastle
Sammamish |
WA
WA
WA
WA
WA
WA |
US
US
US
US
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Microsoft Technology Licensing,
LLC (Redmond, WA)
|
Family
ID: |
46526734 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/154,161 |
Filed: |
June 6, 2011 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20120187956 A1 |
Jul 26, 2012 |
|
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
|
61435672 |
Jan 24, 2011 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
324/686; 345/179;
345/174; 324/662; 324/681; 324/661; 324/688; 345/173; 345/175;
324/658 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01R
31/28 (20130101); G06F 3/044 (20130101); G01R
31/2829 (20130101); G09G 3/006 (20130101); G06F
3/0418 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G01R
27/26 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;324/661,662,681,686,688
;345/173-178 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1242096 |
|
Jan 2000 |
|
CN |
|
1761932 |
|
Apr 2006 |
|
CN |
|
1942853 |
|
Apr 2007 |
|
CN |
|
200947594 |
|
Sep 2007 |
|
CN |
|
101553777 |
|
Oct 2009 |
|
CN |
|
101661373 |
|
Mar 2010 |
|
CN |
|
101937296 |
|
Jan 2011 |
|
CN |
|
201828476 |
|
May 2011 |
|
CN |
|
2201903594 |
|
Jul 2011 |
|
CN |
|
202093112 |
|
Dec 2011 |
|
CN |
|
101545938 |
|
Jan 2012 |
|
CN |
|
202171626 |
|
Mar 2012 |
|
CN |
|
202196126 |
|
Apr 2012 |
|
CN |
|
102436334 |
|
May 2012 |
|
CN |
|
101982783 |
|
Jul 2012 |
|
CN |
|
19939159 |
|
Mar 2000 |
|
DE |
|
2077490 |
|
Jul 2009 |
|
EP |
|
2284654 |
|
Feb 2011 |
|
EP |
|
2003303051 |
|
Oct 2003 |
|
JP |
|
2007323731 |
|
Dec 2007 |
|
JP |
|
20050003155 |
|
Jan 2005 |
|
KR |
|
20050094359 |
|
Sep 2005 |
|
KR |
|
100763057 |
|
Oct 2007 |
|
KR |
|
20080066416 |
|
Jul 2008 |
|
KR |
|
100941441 |
|
Feb 2010 |
|
KR |
|
20100067178 |
|
Jun 2010 |
|
KR |
|
20100077298 |
|
Jul 2010 |
|
KR |
|
20100129015 |
|
Dec 2010 |
|
KR |
|
101007049 |
|
Jan 2011 |
|
KR |
|
20110011337 |
|
Feb 2011 |
|
KR |
|
101065014 |
|
Sep 2011 |
|
KR |
|
200925966 |
|
Jun 2009 |
|
TW |
|
M361674 |
|
Jul 2009 |
|
TW |
|
201104513 |
|
Feb 2011 |
|
TW |
|
WO-9938149 |
|
Jul 1999 |
|
WO |
|
WO-2005114369 |
|
Dec 2005 |
|
WO |
|
WO-2006042309 |
|
Apr 2006 |
|
WO |
|
WO-2010073329 |
|
Jul 2010 |
|
WO |
|
WO-20130063042 |
|
May 2013 |
|
WO |
|
Other References
"Actuation Force of Touch Screen", Solutions @ Mecmesin, retrieved
from
<http://www.ArticleOnePartners.com/index/servefile?fileld=188971>,(-
Dec. 31, 2010), 1 page. cited by applicant .
"AO Touch Screen Tester", retrieved from
<http://www.ao-cs.com/Projects/touch%20screeen%20tester%20project.html-
>, (Dec. 31, 2010), 1 page. cited by applicant .
"How to Use the Precision Touch Testing Tool", retrieved from
<http://feishare.com/attachments/article/279/precision-touch-testind-t-
ool-Windows8-hardware-certification.pdf>, (Apr. 15, 2012),10
pages. cited by applicant .
"Linearity Testing Solutions in Touch Panels", retrieved from
<advantech.com/machine-automation/.../%7BD05BC586-74DD-4BFA-B81A-2A9F7-
ED489F/>, (Nov. 15, 2011), 2 pages. cited by applicant .
"MicroNav Integration Guide Version 3.0", retrieved from
<http://www.steadlands.com/data/interlink/micronavintguide.pdf>,
(Dec. 31, 2003), 11 pages. cited by applicant .
"Microsoft Windows Simulator Touch Emulation", retrieved from
<blods.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2011/09/30/microsoft-windows-si-
mulator-touch-emulation.aspx>, (Sep. 30, 2011), 3 pages. cited
by applicant .
"OptpFidelity Touch & Test", retrieved from
<http://www.ArticleOnePartners.com/index/servefile?fileld=188969,
(Feb. 20, 2012), 2 pages. cited by applicant .
"OptoFidelity Touch and Test", retrieved from
<http://www.ArticleOnePartners.com/index/servefile?fileld=188420>,
(May 4, 2012), 2 pages. cited by applicant .
"OptoFidelity Two Fingers--robot", video available at
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YppRASbXHfk&feature=player.sub.--embed-
ded#!section>, (Sep. 15, 2010), 2 pages. cited by applicant
.
"Project Capacitive Test Fixture", retrieved from
<http://www.touch-intl.com/downloads/DataSheets%20for%20Web/6500443-PC-
T-DataSheet-Web.pdf>, (2009), 2 pages. cited by applicant .
"Resistive Touch Screen.sub.--Resistance Linearity Test", video
available at <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb23GpQdXXU>,
(Jun. 17, 2008), 2 pages. cited by applicant .
"Smartphone Automatic Testing Robot at UEI Booth", video available
at <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Q4ns-b9sA>, (May 9,
2012), 2 pages. cited by applicant .
"Touch Panel Inspection & Testing Solution", retrieved from
<http://www.ArticleOnePartners.com/index/servefile?fileld=188967>,
(Dec. 31, 2010),1 page. cited by applicant .
"Touch Panel Semi-Auto Handler Model 3810", retrieved from
<http://www.chromaus.com/datasheet/3810.sub.--en.pdf>, (Dec.
31, 2010), 2 pages. cited by applicant .
"TouchSense Systems Immersion", retrieved from
<http://www.ArticleOnePartners.com/index/servefile?fileld=188486>,
(Jun. 19, 2010), 20 pages. cited by applicant .
Dillow, Clay "Liquid-Filled Robot Finger More Sensitive to Touch
Than a Human's", retrieved from
<www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-06/new-robot-finger-more-sensi-
tive-touch-human> on Jul. 27, 2012, (Jun. 19, 2012), 3 pages.
cited by applicant .
Hoggan, Eve et al., "Mobile Multi-Actuator Tactile Displays", In
2nd international conference on Haptic and audio interaction
design, retrieved from
<http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/.about.stephen/papers/HAID2.pdf>,
(Oct. 29, 2007),12 pages. cited by applicant .
Kastelan, et al., "Stimulation Board for Automated Verification of
Touchscreen-Based Devices", 22nd International Conference on Field
Programmable Logic and Applications, Available at
<https://www2.lirmm.fr/lirmm/interne/BIBLI/CDROM/MIC/2012/FPL.sub.--20-
12/Papers/PHD7.pdf>,(Aug. 29, 2012), 2 pages. cited by applicant
.
Kastelan, et al., "Touch-Screen Stimulation for Automated
Verification of Touchscreen-Based Devices", In IEEE 19th
International Conference and Workshops on Engineering of Computer
Based System, (Apr. 11, 2012), pp. 52-55. cited by applicant .
Khandkar, Shahedul H., et al., "Tool Support for Testing Complex
MultiTouch Gestures", ITS 2010, Nov. 7-10, 2010, Saarbrucken,
Germany, (Nov. 7, 2010), 10 pages. cited by applicant .
Kuosmanen, Hans "OptoFidelity Automating UI Testing", video
available at
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOZ2r7ZvyTg&feature=player.sub.--embed-
ded#!section>, (Oct. 14, 2010), 2 pages. cited by applicant
.
Kuosmanen, Hans "Testing The Performance of Touch-Enabled
Smartphone User Interfaces", retrieved from
<http://www.ArticleOnePartners.com/index/servefile?fileld=188442>,
(Dec. 31, 2008), 2 pages. cited by applicant .
Levin, Michael et al., "Tactile-Feedback Solutions for an Enhanced
User Experience", retrieved from
>http://www.pbinterfaces.com/documents/Tactile.sub.--Feedback.sub.--So-
lutions.pdf>, (Oct. 31, 2009), pp. 18-21. cited by applicant
.
McMahan, William et al., "Haptic Displayof Realistic Tool Contact
via Dynamically Compensated Control of a Dedicated Actuator",
International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, St.
Louis, MO, Oct. 11-15, 2009, retrieved from
<http://repository.upenn.edu/meam.sub.--papers/222>,(Dec. 15,
2009), 9 pages. cited by applicant .
Terpstra, Brett "BetterTouchTool Makes Multi-touch Infinitely More
Useful, for Free", retrieved from
<http://www.tuaw.com/2010/01/05/bettertouchtool-makes-multi-touch-infi-
nitely-more-useful-for-fr/> on Jul. 20, 2012, (Jan. 5, 2010), 4
pages. cited by applicant .
Toto, Serkan "Video: Smartphone Test Robot Simulates Countless
Flicking and Tapping", retrieved from
<techcrunch.com/2010/12/21/video-smartphone-test-robot-simulates-count-
less-flickind-and-tapping/>, (Dec. 21, 2010), 2 pages. cited by
applicant .
Zivkov, et al., "Touch Screen Mobile Application as Part of Testing
and Verification System", Proceedings of the 35th International
Convention, (May 21, 2012), pp. 892-895. cited by applicant .
"Capacitive Touch Sensors--Application Fields, Technology Overview
and Implementation Example", Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe GmbH;
retrieved from
http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/MICRO/fme/articles/fujitsu-whitepap-
er-capacitive-touch-sensors.pdf on Jun. 20, 2011, (Jan. 12, 2010),
12 pages. cited by applicant .
"Haptic-Actuator Controllers", retrieved from
<http://www.maxim-ic.com/products/data.sub.--converters/touch-interfac-
e/haptic-actuator.cfm> on May 4, 2011, 1 page. cited by
applicant .
"MAX11871", retrieved from
<http://www.maxim-ic.com/datasheet/index.mvp/id/7203> on May
4, 2011, 2 pages. cited by applicant .
Cravotta, Robert "The Battle for Multi-touch", Embedded Insights,
retrieved from
<http://www.embeddedinsights.com/channels/2011/04/12/the-battle-for-mu-
lti-touch/> on May 4, 2011,(Apr. 12, 2011), 3 pages. cited by
applicant .
Pratt, Susan "Factors Affecting Sensor Response", Analog Devices,
AN-830 Application Note, Available at
<http://www.analog.com/static/imported-files/application.sub.--notes/5-
295737729138218742AN830.sub.--0.pdf>,(Dec. 2005), pp. 1-8. cited
by applicant .
"Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 12/941,693, (Nov. 26, 2012),
22 Pages. cited by applicant .
"International Search Report", Application No. PCT/US2011/058855,
(Nov. 1, 2011), 8 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 12/941,693, (Jul. 18,
2012),19 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/152,991, (Mar. 21,
2013),10 pages. cited by applicant .
"PCT Search Report and Written Opinion", Application No.
PCT/US2011/055621, (Jun. 13, 2012), 8 pages. cited by applicant
.
"PCT Search Report and Written Opinion", Application No.
PCT/US2012/027642, (Sep. 3, 2012), 9 pages. cited by applicant
.
"PCT Search Report and Written Opinion", Application No.
PCT/US2012/024780, (Sep. 3, 2012), 9 pages. cited by applicant
.
"PCT Search Report and Written Opinion", Application No.
PCT/US2012/024781, (Sep. 3, 2012), 9 pages. cited by applicant
.
"STM23S-2AN NEMA 23 Integrated Drive+Motor", Retrieved from:
<http://www.applied-motion.com/products/integrated-steppers/stm23s-2an-
> on Jan. 24, 2012, 3 pages. cited by applicant .
"Technology Comparison: Surface Acoustic Wave, Optical and Bending
Wave Technology", 3M Touch Systems, Available at
>http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsld=66666UuZjcFSLXTtnXT-
2NXTaEVuQEcuZgVs6EVs6E666666--&fn=DST-Optical-SAW%20Tech%20Brief.pdf>,(-
2009), pp. 1-4. cited by applicant .
"Using Low Power Mode on the MPR083 and MPR084", Freescale
Semiconductor Application Note, Available at
<http://cache.freescale.com/files/sensors/doc/app.sub.--note/AN3583.pd-
f>,(Nov. 2007), pp. 1-5. cited by applicant .
Asif, Muhammad et al., "MPEG-7 Motion Descriptor Extraction for
Panning Camera Using Sprite Generated", In Proceedings of AVSS
2008, Available at
<http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4730384>,(-
Sep. 2008), pp. 60-66. cited by applicant .
Baraldi, Stefano et al., "WikiTable: Finger Driven Interaction for
Collaborative Knowledge-Building Workspaces", Proceedings of the
2006 Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshop
(CVPRW'06), available at
<<http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1640590&g-
t;>,(Jul. 5, 2006), 6 pages. cited by applicant .
Benko, Hrvoje et al., "Resolving Merged Touch Contacts", U.S. Appl.
No. 12/914,693, (Nov. 8, 2010), 22 pages. cited by applicant .
Binns, Francis S., "Multi-"Touch" Interaction via Visual Tracking",
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with Honours, The
University of Bath, available at
<<http://www.cs.bath.ac.uk/.about.mdv/courses/CM30082/projects.bho/-
2008-9/Binns-FS-dissertation-2008-9.pdf>>, (May 2009), 81
pages. cited by applicant .
Brodkin, Jon "Windows 8 hardward: Touchscreens, sensor support and
robotic fingers",
<<http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2011/09/windows-8--
hardware-touch-screens-sensor-support-and-robotic-fingers.ars>>,
(Sep. 13, 2011),1 Page. cited by applicant .
Buffet, Y "Robot Touchscreen Analysis",
<<http://ybuffet.posterous.com/labsmotocom-blog-archive-robot-touch-
screen-an>>, (Apr. 19, 2010), 2 Pages. cited by applicant
.
Cao, Xiang et al., "Evaluation of an On-line Adaptive Gesture
Interface with Command Prediction", In Proceedings of GI 2005,
Available at
<http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=DAB1B08F620C-
23464427932BAF1ECF49?doi=10.1.1.61.6749&rep=rep1&type=pdf>,(May
2005), 8 pages. cited by applicant .
Cao, Xiang et al., "ShapeTouch: Leveraging Contact Shape on
Interactive Surfaces", In Proceedings of TABLETOP 2008, Available
at
<http://www.cs.toronto.edu/.about.caox/tabletop2008.sub.--shapetouch.p-
df>,(2008), pp. 139-146. cited by applicant .
Dang, Chi T., et al., "Hand Distinction for Multi-Touch Tabletop
Interaction", University of the Augsburg; Institute of Computer
Science; Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on
Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces, (Nov. 23-25, 2009), 8 pages.
cited by applicant .
Dillencourt, Michael B., et al., "A General Approach to
Connected-Component Labeling for Arbitrary Image Representations",
Journal of the Association for Computing Machinery, vol. 39, No. 2,
available at
<<http://www.cs.umd.edu/.about.hjs/pubs/DillJACM92.pdf>>,(Apr-
. 1992), pp. 253-280. cited by applicant .
Hoshino, et al., "Pinching at finger tips for humanoid robot hand",
Retrieved at
<<http://www.web.mit.edu/zoz/Public/HoshinoKawabuchiRobotHand.pdf&g-
t;>, (Jun. 30, 2005), 9 Pages. cited by applicant .
Kjellgren, Olof "Developing a remote control application for
Windows CE", Bachelor Thesis performed in Computer Engineering at
ABE Robotics, Miilardalen University, Department of Computer
Science and Electronics, Retrieved at
<<http://www.idt.mdh.se/utbildning/exjobblfiles/TR0661.pdf>>,-
(May 30, 2007), 43 Pages. cited by applicant .
McGlaun, Shane "Microsoft's Surface 2.0 Stress Testing Robot Called
Patty Shown off for First Time", Retrieved at
<<http://www.slashgear.
com/microsofts-surface-2-0-stress-testing-robot-called-patty-shown-off-fo-
r-first-time-19172971/>>, (Aug. 19, 2011), 1 Page. cited by
applicant .
Takeuchi, et al., "Development of a Muti-fingered Robot Hand with
Softness changeable Skin Mechanism", International Symposium on and
2010 6th German Conference on Robotics(ROBOTIK), Retrieved at
<<http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=05756853>&-
gt;,(Jun. 7, 2010), 7 Pages. cited by applicant .
Tao, Yufei et al., "An Efficient Cost Model for Optimization of
Nearest Neighbor Search in Low and Medium Dimensional Spaces",
Knowledge and Data Engineering, vol. 16 Issue: 10, retrieved from
<<http://www.cais.ntu.edu.sg/.about.jzhang/papers/ecmonns.pdf>&g-
t; on Mar. 16, 2011,(Oct. 2004),16 pages. cited by applicant .
Tsuchiya, Sho et al., "Vib-Touch: Virtual Active Touch Interface
for Handheld Devices", In Proceedings of The 18th IEEE
International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive
Communication, Available at
<http://www.mech.nagoya-u.ac.jp/asi/en/member/shogo.sub.--okamoto/pape-
rs/tsuchiyaROMAN2009.pdf>, (Oct. 2009), pp. 12-17. cited by
applicant .
Westman, Tapani et al., "Color Segmentation by Hierarchical
Connected Components Analysis with Image Enhancement by Symmetric
Neighborhood Filter", Pattern Recognition, 1990. Proceedings., 10th
International Conference on Jun. 16-21, 1990, retrieved from
<<http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=118219>-
;> on Mar. 16, 2011,(Jun. 16, 1990), pp. 796-802. cited by
applicant .
Wilson, Andrew D., "TouchLight: An Imaging Touch Screen and Display
for Gesture-Based Interaction", In Proceedings of ICIM 2004,
Available at
<http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.95.3647&rep=-
rep1&type=pdf>,(Oct. 2004), 8 pages. cited by applicant
.
Wimmer, Raphael et al., "Modular and Deformable Touch-Sensitive
Surfaces Based on Time Domain Reflectometry", In Proceedings of
UIST 2011, Available at
<http://www.medien.ifi.Imu.de/pubdb/publications/pub/wimmer2011tdrTouc-
h/wimmer2011tdrTouch.pdf>,(Oct. 2011), 10 pages. cited by
applicant .
"Input Testing Tool", U.S. Appl. No. 13/659,777, (Oct. 24, 2012),
31 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 12/941,693, (May 16,
2013),13 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/183,377, (Jun. 21,
2013),10 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/293,060, (Jul. 12,
2013), 9 pages. cited by applicant .
"PCT Search Report and Written Opinion", Application No.
PCT/US2013/021787, (May 13, 2013), 9 pages. cited by applicant
.
"Touch Quality Test Robot", U.S. Appl. No. 13/530,692, (Jun. 22,
2012), 20 pages. cited by applicant .
"Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/152,991, (Sep. 20,
2013),14 pages. cited by applicant .
"Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/183,377, (Oct. 15,
2013),12 pages. cited by applicant .
"Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/293,060, (Sep. 25,
2013),10 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/156,243, (Sep. 19,
2013),12 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/293,060, (Nov. 29,
2013),11 pages. cited by applicant .
"Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 12/941,693, Nov. 18, 2013, 21
Pages. cited by applicant .
"International Search Report and Written Opinion", Application No.
PCT/US2013/061067, Feb. 7, 2014, 11 pages. cited by applicant .
"International Search Report and Written Opinion", Application No.
PCT/US2013/046208, Sep. 27, 2013, 12 pages. cited by applicant
.
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/099,288, Feb. 6, 2014,
13 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/152,991, Mar. 21,
2014, 18 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/183,377, Feb. 27,
2014, 12 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/198,036, Jan. 31,
2014, 14 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/530,692, Jan. 31,
2014, 14 pages. cited by applicant .
"Notice of Allowance", U.S. Appl. No. 13/156,243, Jan. 28, 2014, 8
pages. cited by applicant .
"Notice of Allowance", U.S. Appl. No. 13/198,415, Dec. 26, 2013, 8
pages. cited by applicant .
"Corrected Notice of Allowance", U.S. Appl. No. 13/156,243, Jun. 6,
2014, 4 pages. cited by applicant .
"Foreign Office Action", TW Application No. 101100606, Apr. 15,
2014, 10 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/099,288, Jun. 10,
2014, 22 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/293,060, Jul. 23,
2014, 12 pages. cited by applicant .
"Notice of Allowance", U.S. Appl. No. 13/183,377, Jul. 18, 2014, 7
pages. cited by applicant .
"Extended European Search Report", EP Application No. 11840170.2,
Jul. 16, 2014, 10 pages. cited by applicant .
"Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/152,991, Aug. 20, 2014, 14
pages. cited by applicant .
"Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/198,036, Aug. 14, 2014, 17
pages. cited by applicant .
"Foreign Notice of Allowance", CN Application No. 201110349777.5,
May 28, 2014, 6 pages. cited by applicant .
"Foreign Office Action", CN Application No. 201210031164.1, Sep.
11, 2014, 9 Pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/530,692, Aug. 25,
2014, 18 pages. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/205,319, Sep. 9, 2014,
13 pages. cited by applicant .
"Notice of Allowance", U.S. Appl. No. 12/941,693, Aug. 13, 2014, 8
pages. cited by applicant .
"Notice of Allowance", U.S. Appl. No. 13/362,238, Jul. 28, 2014, 11
pages. cited by applicant .
"Supplemental Notice of Allowance", U.S. Appl. No. 13/362,238, Sep.
18, 2014, 4 pages. cited by applicant .
"Foreign Office Action", CN Application No. 201210018527.8, Feb.
24, 2014, 10 Pages. cited by applicant .
"Foreign Office Action", CN Application No. 201210031164.1, Mar. 5,
2014, 14 Pages. cited by applicant .
"Foreign Office Action", CN Application No. 201210029859.6, Feb.
21, 2014, 15 Pages. cited by applicant .
"Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/530,692, Apr. 10, 2014, 16
pages. cited by applicant .
"Restriction Requirement", U.S. Appl. No. 13/205,319, May 8, 2014,
6 pages. cited by applicant .
"Corrected Notice of Allowance", U.S. Appl. No. 13/362,238, Nov.
18, 2014, 2 pages. cited by applicant .
"Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/293,060, Nov. 6, 2014, 14
pages. cited by applicant .
"Foreign Notice of Allowance", TW Application No. 101100606, Sep.
29, 2014, 4 pages. cited by applicant .
"Foreign Office Action", CN Application No. 201210018527.8, Oct.
29, 2014, 12 pages. cited by applicant .
"Foreign Office Action", CN Application No. 201210029859.6, Oct.
17, 2014, 8 Pages. cited by applicant .
"Foreign Office Action", CN Application No. 201210446236.9, Dec. 3,
2014, 11 pages. cited by applicant .
"Notice of Allowance", U.S. Appl. No. 13/099,288, Oct. 28, 2014, 9
pages. cited by applicant .
"Notice of Allowance", U.S. Appl. No. 13/205,319, Dec. 19, 2014, 8
pages. cited by applicant .
"Search Report", TW Application No. 101100609, Oct. 16, 2014, 1
page. cited by applicant .
"Non-Final Office Action", U.S. Appl. No. 13/152,991, Dec. 31,
2014, 18 pages. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Nguyen; Tung X
Assistant Examiner: Allgood; Alesa
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Churna; Timothy Drakos; Kate
Minhas; Micky
Parent Case Text
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. Section 119(e) to
U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/435,672, filed Jan. 24,
2011 and titled "Touchscreen Testing," the entire disclosure of
which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method comprising positioning a conductor as proximal to a
touchscreen device having at least one touch sensor, the conductor
not included as a part of the at least one touch sensor, the
conductor including a metal contact; and testing the touchscreen
device by simulating a touch of a user by placing the conductor in
a grounded state without moving the conductor as positioned by the
positioning and lack of touch by the user by placing the conductor
in an ungrounded state without moving the conductor as positioned
by the positioning.
2. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the placing of the
conductor in the ungrounded state is performed while the conductor
is in contact with the touchscreen device yet simulates the lack of
the touch by the user.
3. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the placing in the
grounded state and the ungrounded state is performed using an
electrical switch driven by a computing device to perform the
testing.
4. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the testing further
comprises collecting data from the touchscreen device.
5. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising adjusting
grounding of the conductor.
6. A method as described in claim 5, wherein the adjusting is
performed to reduce ghost touches and missed touch reports.
7. A method as described in claim 6, wherein the adjusting is based
on establishing a passive minimum and maximum and establishing an
active minimum and maximum of values described in data received
from digitizers of the touchscreen device and using the established
passive minimum and maximum and established active minimum and
maximum to select a grounding condition.
8. A method as described in claim 6, wherein the adjusting is
performed by varying an amount of grounding material.
9. A method as described in claim 8, wherein the adjusting
performed by varying the amount of grounding material is performed
without receiving data from digitizers of the touchscreen device
that reference amplitudes of touches.
10. An apparatus comprising: a conductor configured to contact a
touchscreen device at a user touch input location sensed by one or
more touch sensors, the conductor not being a constituent element
of the touchscreen device, the conductor including a metal contact,
and the touchscreen device comprising: a display; the one or more
touch sensors; and a touch module configured to process inputs
provided by the one or more touch sensors; an electrical switch
that is electrically coupled to the conductor; and one or more
modules communicatively coupled to the electrical switch, the one
or more modules configured to test the touchscreen device by:
causing the electrical switch to place the conductor in a grounded
state when contacting the touchscreen device to emulate a touch by
a user; and causing the electrical switch to place the conductor in
an ungrounded state when contacting the touchscreen device to
emulate lack of a touch by the user.
11. An apparatus as described in claim 10, wherein an amount of
grounding in the grounding state applied by the conductor is
adjusted to reduce ghost touches and missed touch reports.
12. An apparatus as described in claim 10, wherein the one or more
modules communicatively coupled to the electrical switch are
configured to perform the testing by collecting data from
digitizers of the touchscreen device.
13. An apparatus as described in claim 12, wherein the data
references amplitudes of touches.
14. A method comprising: adjusting grounding of a conductor to be
applied against a user touch input area of a capacitive touchscreen
device having at least one touch sensor, the conductor not being
direct current coupled to the at least one touch sensor, the
conductor including a metal contact; and testing the touchscreen
device by simulating a touch of a user by grounding the conductor
using an electrical switch.
15. A method as described in claim 14, wherein testing further
comprises placing the conductor in an ungrounded state to simulate
a lack of the touch by the user.
16. A method as described in claim 15, wherein the placing of the
conductor in the ungrounded state is performed while the conductor
is in contact with the user touch input area of the touchscreen
device yet simulates the lack of the touch by the user.
17. A method as described in claim 14, wherein the adjusting is
performed to reduce ghost touches and missed touch reports.
18. A method as described in claim 17, wherein the adjusting is
based on a passive minimum and maximum and an active minimum and
maximum of values described in data received from digitizers of the
touchscreen device that reference amplitudes of touches.
19. A method as described in claim 14, wherein the adjusting is
performed by varying an amount of grounding material.
20. A method as described in claim 19, wherein the adjusting
performed by varying the amount of grounding material is performed
without receiving data from digitizers of the touchscreen device
that reference amplitudes of touches.
Description
BACKGROUND
Display and input techniques utilized by computing devices are ever
evolving. For example, initial computing devices were provided with
monitors. A user interacted with the computing device by viewing
simple text on the monochrome monitor and entering text via a
keyboard that could then be viewed on the monitor. Other techniques
were then subsequently developed, such as graphical user interfaces
and cursor control devices.
Display and input techniques have continued to evolve, such as to
sense touch using a touchscreen display of a computing device to
recognize gestures. A user, for instance, may interact with a
graphical user interface by inputting a gesture using the user's
hand that is detected by the touchscreen display. However,
traditional techniques that were utilized to test touchscreen
displays were often inaccurate and therefore were typically
inadequate to test the touchscreen displays as suitable for
intended use of the device.
SUMMARY
Touchscreen testing techniques are described. In one or more
implementations, a piece of conductor (e.g., metal) is positioned
as proximal to a touchscreen device and the touchscreen device is
tested by simulating a touch of a user by placing the conductor in
a grounded state and lack of a touch by the user by placing the
conductor in an ungrounded state.
In one or more implementations, an apparatus includes a conductor
configured to contact a touchscreen device, an electrical switch
that is electrically coupled to the conductor, and one or more
modules communicatively coupled to the electrical switch. The one
or more modules are configured to test the touchscreen device by
causing the electrical switch to place the conductor in a grounded
state when contacting the touchscreen device to emulate a touch by
a user and cause the electrical switch to place the conductor in an
ungrounded state when contacting the touchscreen device to emulate
lack of a touch by the user.
In one or more implementations, grounding of a conductor to be
applied against a touchscreen device is adjusted and the
touchscreen device is tested by simulating a touch of a user by
grounding the conductor using an electrical switch.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a
simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed
Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features
or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it
intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the
claimed subject matter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The detailed description is described with reference to the
accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a
reference number identifies the figure in which the reference
number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in
different instances in the description and the figures may indicate
similar or identical items.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of an environment in an example
implementation that is operable to utilize touchscreen testing
techniques described herein.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of a system in an example implementation
showing a test apparatus of FIG. 1 as being implemented using a
computing device.
FIG. 3 is an illustration of a representation of a matrix of touch
amplitudes
FIG. 4 depicts an implementation example of the system of FIG.
2.
FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a procedure in an example
implementation in which grounding is adjusted and a touchscreen
device is tested.
FIG. 6 illustrates various components of an example device that can
be implemented as any type of computing device as described with
reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 to implement embodiments of the
techniques described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Overview
Conventional techniques that were utilized to test touchscreen
devices were often difficult to reproduce. Consequently, test
results from these conventional techniques could be inaccurate and
difficult to interpret and thus often failed for their intended
purpose.
Touchscreen testing techniques are described herein. In one or more
implementations, techniques are described in which a touch input of
a part of a user's body is simulated by using a conductor (e.g., an
electrical conductor such as a piece of metal) that is grounded.
For example, the conductor may be shaped to approximate a shape
and/or area of a portion of a user's finger that is typically used
to contact a touchscreen device and grounded to mimic contact of a
user's finger with the device. The metal may then alternate between
grounded and ungrounded (i.e., floating) states to mimic contact
and non-contact by a user's finger, respectively. Thus, the
touchscreen device may be tested using the metal contact without
having to move the metal contact (e.g., using a mechanical switch).
Further discussion of these techniques may be found in the
following discussion in corresponding sections.
In the following discussion, an example environment is first
described that may employ the testing techniques described herein.
Example procedures are then described which may be performed in the
example environment as well as other environments. Consequently,
performance of the example procedures is not limited to the example
environment and the example environment is not limited to
performance of the example procedures.
Example Environment
FIG. 1 depicts an environment 100 in an example implementation that
includes a test apparatus 102 that is suitable to test a
touchscreen device 104. The touchscreen device 104 may be
configured in a variety of ways. For example, the touchscreen
device 104 may be configured as part of a mobile communication
device such as a mobile phone, a portable game-playing device, a
tablet computer, as part of a traditional computing device (e.g., a
display device that is part of a laptop or personal computer), and
so on.
Additionally, the touchscreen 106 of the touchscreen device 104 may
be configured in a variety of ways. For example, the touchscreen
106 of the touchscreen device 104 may include sensors that are
configured to detect contact with the touchscreen 106. Touch
sensors 110 are typically used to report actual contact with the
touchscreen 106, such as when being touched with a finger of a
user's hand 108.
Examples of such touch sensors 110 include capacitive touch
sensors. For instance, in projected capacitance an X-Y grid may be
formed across the touchscreen using near optically transparent
conductors (e.g., indium tin oxide) to detect contact at different
X-Y locations on the touchscreen 106. Other capacitance techniques
are also contemplated, such as surface capacitance, mutual
capacitance, self-capacitance, and so on. Further, other touch
sensors 110 are also contemplated in other instances, such as
infrared, optical imaging, dispersive signal technology, acoustic
pulse recognition, and so on.
Regardless of the type of touch sensors 110 used, inputs detected
by the touch sensors 110 may then be processed by the touch module
112 to detect characteristics of the inputs, which may be used for
a variety of purposes. For example, the touch module 112 may
recognize that the touch input indicates selection of a particular
object, may recognize one or more inputs as a gesture usable to
initiate an operation of the touchscreen device 104 (e.g., expand a
user interface), and so forth. However, this processing may rely
upon the accuracy of the inputs and therefore conventional
techniques that were utilized to test the touchscreen could result
in an inaccurate touchscreen making it to market, which could
hinder a user's interaction with the device.
In one or more implementations described herein, contact with a
touchscreen 106 by a finger of a user's hand 108 is emulated by the
test apparatus 102. For example, the test apparatus 102 may include
a test module 114 and switch 116. which are configured to place a
metal piece against the touchscreen 106. The switch 116, for
instance, may be configured as a projected capacitance switch
circuit that is used to alternate the conductor between grounded
and ungrounded states. In this way, the switch 116 may effectively
emulate a finger of a user's hand without moving the conductor. In
other words, "up" and "down" touch events may mimic a press and
removal of the user's finger without movement. These techniques may
be utilized for a variety of different techniques, examples of
which may be found in the corresponding sections.
Generally, any of the functions described herein can be implemented
using software, firmware, hardware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry),
or a combination of these implementations. The terms "module,"
"functionality," and "logic" as used herein generally represent
software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof. In the case
of a software implementation, the module, functionality, or logic
represents program code that performs specified tasks when executed
on a processor (e.g., CPU or CPUs). The program code can be stored
in one or more computer readable memory devices. The features of
the techniques described below are platform-independent, meaning
that the techniques may be implemented on a variety of commercial
computing platforms having a variety of processors.
For example, the test apparatus 102 and/or the touchscreen device
104 may be implemented using a computing device. The computing
device may also include an entity (e.g., software) that causes
hardware of the computing device to perform operations, e.g.,
processors, functional blocks, a "system-on-a-chip," and so on. For
example, the computing device may include a computer-readable
medium that may be configured to maintain instructions that cause
the computing device, and more particularly hardware of the
computing device to perform operations. Thus, the instructions
function to configure the hardware to perform the operations and in
this way result in transformation of the hardware to perform
functions. The instructions may be provided by the
computer-readable medium to the computing device through a variety
of different configurations.
One such configuration of a computer-readable medium is signal
bearing medium and thus is configured to transmit the instructions
(e.g., as a carrier wave) to the hardware of the computing device,
such as via a network. The computer-readable medium may also be
configured as a computer-readable storage medium and thus is not a
signal bearing medium. Examples of a computer-readable storage
medium include a random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory
(ROM), an optical disc, flash memory, hard disk memory, and other
memory devices that may use magnetic, optical, and other techniques
to store instructions and other data.
Adjustment of Grounding
FIG. 2 is an illustration of a system 200 in an example
implementation showing the test apparatus 102 of FIG. 1 as being
implemented using a computing device 202. Although illustrated
separately, the computing device 202 includes a microcontroller
board 204 (e.g., AT90USBKEY), the switch 116 configured as a
software driven hardware switch 206 that is electrically coupled to
a metal contact, and a touchscreen device 104 with is the device
under test. In this example the touchscreen device 104 is
configured as having a mutual or self-capacitance touch screen.
The computing device 202 is illustrated as including a test manager
module 208 that is representative of functionality to manage the
testing of the touchscreen device 104. The test manager module 208,
for instance, may execute an application to synchronize 210 clocks
on computing device 202 and the microcontroller board 204 and then
drive 212 the microcontroller board 204.
Once a command is received by the microcontroller board 204 from
the computing device 202, the microcontroller board 204 may trigger
214 the software driven hardware switch 206, such as to alternate
between grounded and ungrounded (e.g., floating) states. Although a
single switch is shown, it should be readily apparent that the
system 200 may incorporate other numbers of switches, e.g., two,
three, or even more, and the switch 116 may incorporate more than
one grounded-metal contact. Thus, contact 216 of a grounded metal
portion of the switch 116 with the touchscreen device 104 may be
used to emulate both a touch and lack of a touch on the touchscreen
device 104 under test by alternating between the states.
The touchscreen device 104 may then report contact through an HID
report 218 to the computing device 202. For example, the HID report
218 may propagate through a touch input stack 220 to be reported to
the test manager module 208, e.g., as WM_INPUT and WM_POINTER
message in a WndProc function. The test manager module 208 may then
process these messages and provide visual feedback, such as in a
graphical user interface. Other examples of data that may be
processed include HID over I.sup.2C.
In an example system 200, the drive 212 signal may occur every two
seconds although other time periods are also contemplated, such as
non-periodical time intervals. This may result in a "contact down"
event for two seconds, followed with a "contact up" event for the
next two seconds by alternating between grounded and ungrounded
states, respectively. LEDs disposed on the microcontroller board
204 may be used indicate both "up" and "down" events. Additionally,
a rectangle in a top left corner of a display device of the
computing device 202 may change color each time a WM_INPUT report
is received.
As stated above, the test manager module 208 (e.g., through a hsync
application) may be used to drive the microcontroller board 204 by
sending "down" and "up" events at predefined intervals (e.g., two
seconds) although other intervals are also contemplated. The test
manager module 208 may also be used to listen for raw HID report
218 messages from the touchscreen device 104, e.g., WM_INPUT
message. Upon receipt of each message, the test manager module 208
may render a rectangle (e.g., in a top left corner of a display
device of the computing device 202), e.g., with a different color
to provide feedback although other feedback mechanisms are also
contemplated. A log file may also be generated by the test manager
module 208 to describe the test performed. The microcontroller
board 204 may also provide feedback, e.g., using two LEDs on the
board in which one is for a "down" event and one is for an "up"
event.
In an example situation when grounding is adjusted as described
below, 2*f HID reports 218 may be expected for each two seconds of
a DOWN event, in which "f" is a reporting rate for a touch sensor.
For a touchscreen device 104 that reports at 105 Hz, for instance,
two-hundred and ten messages may be expected to be received during
the two seconds the switch 116 emulates "down" through a grounded
state. Further, it is expected that few to no messages are received
during the two seconds the switch 116 emulates an "up" event
mimicked by an ungrounded state, e.g., expect for the first fifty
to one hundred milliseconds right after the "up" even has been
initiated due to latency. This information may be described in the
log file generated by the test manager module 208.
The test manager module 208, for instance, may generate three log
files. The first log file may summarize "down" event latency, the
second log file may summarize "up" event latency, and the third log
file may describe each of the logged information. An example of the
log file is given in the following table:
TABLE-US-00001 freq = 2337920, [ 1; 1; 4157019762]: 67233 us .+-.
1898 us 194 [ 3; 1; 4166371459]: 58207 us .+-. 1817 us 195 [ 5; 1;
4175723151]: 50159 us .+-. 1737 us 195 [ 7; 1; 4185074835]: 54075
us .+-. 1661 us 195 [ 9; 1; 4194426526]: 38007 us .+-. 1582 us 197
[11; 1; 4203778217]: 37887 us .+-. 1503 us 197 [13; 1; 4213129911]:
49844 us .+-. 1423 us 195 [15; 1; 4222481609]: 53665 us .+-. 1339
us 195 [17; 1; 4231833295]: 57747 us .+-. 1262 us 195 [19; 1;
4241184991]: 53546 us .+-. 1180 us 195 [21; 1; 4250536685]: 57453
us .+-. 1098 us 195 [23; 1; 4259888382]: 37387 us .+-. 2016 us 197
[25; 1; 4269240085]: 37267 us .+-. 1943 us 197
The first column in this example represents an index of the event,
with each of the odd, the even events are in the "up" summary. The
second column includes an identifier of the event, e.g., "1" equals
"down" and "3" equals "up." The third column includes a real time
timestamp. The fourth column describes actual measured "down"/"up"
latency. The fifth column indicates an absolute (maximal) error in
measurement, and finally the sixth column indicates number of
messages received during the "down"/"up" event, e.g., during the
two seconds of the event.
For reference, an excerpt from the second log file is presented
below:
TABLE-US-00002 freq = 2337920, [ 2; 3; 4161695608]: 65997 us .+-.
1861 us 7 [ 4; 3; 4171047311]: 57916 us .+-. 1776 us 6 [ 6; 3;
4180398993]: 61869 us .+-. 1703 us 7 [ 8; 3; 4189750682]: 65743 us
.+-. 1633 us 7 [10; 3; 4199102374]: 65658 us .+-. 1551 us 7 [12; 3;
4208454063]: 57592 us .+-. 1479 us 6 [14; 3; 4217805764]: 61475 us
.+-. 1387 us 7 [16; 3; 4227157451]: 65488 us .+-. 1311 us 7 [18; 3;
4236509143]: 57339 us .+-. 1231 us 6 [20; 3; 4245860840]: 61275 us
.+-. 1154 us 7 [22; 3; 4255212531]: 65165 us .+-. 1068 us 7 [24; 3;
4264564234]: 65079 us .+-. 1977 us 7 [26; 3; 4273915933]: 57014 us
.+-. 1901 us 6
The sixth column may be used to adjust grounding. The grounding
condition may be adjusted in such way to obtain a repeatable number
of packets for each measurement. In one or more implementations it
is expected this number may vary, e.g., in the example above it
varies from 194-197, which is about one to two percent of the time.
For instance, a variation of up to ten percent may be considered
permissible, and amounts above this value may be investigated. Once
the setup and expected parameters are understood, the actual
grounding adjustment may be performed.
Grounding Adjustment
In one or more implementations, a SNR (signal to noise ratio) is
set at or near a highest possible value to select a proper
grounding condition. One way to adjust grounding is to access the
raw data, the procedure for adjusting ground in case this data is
not available is also described below.
When raw data is available (e.g., from the HID report 218), the SNR
may be calculated as follows. The amplitude of the touch (e.g., a
change in an electrostatic field or changed perceived capacitance)
as reported by the digitizers of the touchscreen device 104 is
compared to the noise reported by the digitizer. An upper limit
(i.e., the "highest possible value) to SNR may be established by
simply pressing a finger against the digitizer and reading the
reported amplitude. It may be normal to have lower SNR values for
emulated touch, even as low as half of the upper limit.
First, the proper environmental conditions are selected. It may be
noted particular conditions may not be involved, but that results
could depend on the conditions. Next, a readout is made in case a
human finger is pressed against the digitizer, a matrix of
amplitudes, which may be similar to the table below and the image
as shown in the example implementation of FIG. 3. Particular care
may be made to a maximum value of the amplitude, which in this case
would be 255. Reading out the noise may not be performed as long
the noise levels are not changed in the presence of the switch,
which may not happen in this case. The following table is an
example of raw touch data, illustration of which is shown in the
example implementation 300 of FIG. 3.
TABLE-US-00003 10 20 30 22 6 16 106 246 118 16 14 182 255 255 30 10
64 236 120 14 10 6 12 16 8
In a next step, a metal contact that is electrically coupled to the
switch 116 is introduced to a touch digitizer of the touchscreen
device 104. This may effectively change a baseline of the
digitizer, which may involve a certain period for recalibrating.
For example, a touch digitizer may perform this automatically in a
process referred to as re-baselining and may take from a fraction
of a second up to two minutes. This process may be tracked by
observing the raw data, e.g., the HID report 218. Once noise levels
in the area of the switch 116 become similar or the same as in the
remainder of the digitizer, the next step is performed.
In some implementations, rebaselining may not be a trivial task for
a digitizer and it could happen that digitizer does not reach
average noise levels. If this is the case, the grounding may be
adjusted. This may be done in several interactions, starting from a
relatively small amount grounding (e.g., no grounding) and
gradually increasing the amount until finally a large metal piece
that is not connected to the power grid ground is attached, e.g., a
metal table, unplugged computer box and similar, use of a human
body as a ground, and so on. Usually a lack of grounding may enable
the re-baselining. The minimum and maximum amount of metal used to
allow re-baselining may be observed and recorded. As a result of
this procedure, ghost touches (e.g., false positive indications of
touch) do not occur while switch is in passive state in most
instances.
The switch 116 may then be set to active state to emulate touch,
e.g., by placing the conductor in a grounded state. This procedure
may be similar to the previous procedure, but this time the highest
amplitude of the touch compared to the previously established upper
bound is determined.
An optimal amount of grounding material may be selected given the
four mentioned values, e.g., in the middle of their intersection.
For example, passive minimum and maximum may be lower than active
minimum and maximum, thereby yielding the following intersection:
[active minimum, passive maximum].
After this process is concluded the following setup may be
achieved. First, while in a passive state there are no ghost
touches whereas while active there are no false negative touches
that involve failure to report a touch, i.e., a full frame rate is
reported. Additionally, the affected baseline may have the same
noise distribution as the rest of the digitizer and the maximum
amplitude may be the best possible (e.g., best SNR)
In case raw data is not accessible a slightly indirect technique
may be used in which reported touch events instead of the raw data
from the HID report 218. In this case, the procedure starts with no
grounding material and a test is performed of both passive and
actives states. The amount of grounding is then gradually increased
such that in a passive state there are no ghost touches and in the
active state there are no missed touch reports, e.g., at a maximum
frame rate. Minimum and maximum amounts of grounding are obtained
such that two conditions above are met. Finally, an approximate
middle of this range is selected as the optimal or near optimal
grounding condition.
FIG. 4 depicts an implementation example 400 of the system 200 of
FIG. 2. In this example implementation 400, a RF JFET can be used
as a high speed switching circuit. It should be noted that this
implementation may be optimized for emulating a particular touch
screen device. For example, the proposed grounding of the
copper-clad board (e.g., 1.8''.times.3.9'') may be modified for
implementation on different touchscreen devices as described
above.
Example Procedures
The following discussion describes touchscreen testing techniques
that may be implemented utilizing the previously described systems
and devices. Aspects of each of the procedures may be implemented
in hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination thereof. The
procedures are shown as a set of blocks that specify operations
performed by one or more devices and are not necessarily limited to
the orders shown for performing the operations by the respective
blocks. In portions of the following discussion, reference will be
made to the environment 100 of FIG. 1 and the systems 200, 400 of
FIGS. 2 and 4.
FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a procedure 500 in an example
implementation in which grounding is adjusted and a touchscreen
device is tested. Grounding of a conductor is adjusted (block 502).
For example, this technique may involve data received from
digitizers of the touchscreen device 104, such as the HID report.
This technique may also be performed without this data as
previously described above.
The conductor is positioned proximal to the touchscreen device
(block 504). For example, the conductor may be placed within range
of capacitance sensors of the touchscreen device 104, which may
include contact or near contact by the conductor against digitizers
of the touchscreen device 104.
The touchscreen device is tested by simulating a touch of a user by
placing the conductor in a grounded state and lack of touch by the
user by placing the conductor in an ungrounded state (block 506). A
switch 116, for instance, may be used to alternate between the
grounded and ungrounded stated. Thus, the conductor may remain
unmoving yet still used to test both touch and a lack of touch. A
variety of other examples are also contemplated as previously
described.
Example Device
FIG. 6 illustrates various components of an example device 600 that
can be implemented as any type of computing device as described
with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 to implement embodiments of the
techniques described herein, both to perform the testing as well as
to be tested. Device 600 includes communication devices 602 that
enable wired and/or wireless communication of device data 604
(e.g., received data, data that is being received, data scheduled
for broadcast, data packets of the data, etc.). The device data 604
or other device content can include configuration settings of the
device, media content stored on the device, and/or information
associated with a user of the device. Media content stored on
device 600 can include any type of audio, video, and/or image data.
Device 600 includes one or more data inputs 606 via which any type
of data, media content, and/or inputs can be received, such as
user-selectable inputs, messages, music, television media content,
recorded video content, and any other type of audio, video, and/or
image data received from any content and/or data source.
Device 600 also includes communication interfaces 608 that can be
implemented as any one or more of a serial and/or parallel
interface, a wireless interface, any type of network interface, a
modem, and as any other type of communication interface. The
communication interfaces 608 provide a connection and/or
communication links between device 600 and a communication network
by which other electronic, computing, and communication devices
communicate data with device 600.
Device 600 includes one or more processors 610 (e.g., any of
microprocessors, controllers, and the like) which process various
computer-executable instructions to control the operation of device
600 and to implement embodiments of the techniques described
herein. Alternatively or in addition, device 600 can be implemented
with any one or combination of hardware, firmware, or fixed logic
circuitry that is implemented in connection with processing and
control circuits which are generally identified at 612. Although
not shown, device 600 can include a system bus or data transfer
system that couples the various components within the device. A
system bus can include any one or combination of different bus
structures, such as a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral
bus, a universal serial bus, and/or a processor or local bus that
utilizes any of a variety of bus architectures.
Device 600 also includes computer-readable media 614, such as one
or more memory components, examples of which include random access
memory (RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., any one or more of a
read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.), and a
disk storage device. A disk storage device may be implemented as
any type of magnetic or optical storage device, such as a hard disk
drive, a recordable and/or rewriteable compact disc (CD), any type
of a digital versatile disc (DVD), and the like. Device 600 can
also include a mass storage media device 616.
Computer-readable media 614 provides data storage mechanisms to
store the device data 604, as well as various device applications
618 and any other types of information and/or data related to
operational aspects of device 600. For example, an operating system
620 can be maintained as a computer application with the
computer-readable media 614 and executed on processors 610. The
device applications 618 can include a device manager (e.g., a
control application, software application, signal processing and
control module, code that is native to a particular device, a
hardware abstraction layer for a particular device, etc.). The
device applications 618 also include any system components or
modules to implement embodiments of the gesture techniques
described herein. In this example, the device applications 618
include an interface application 622 and an input/output module 624
(which may be the same or different as input/output module 114)
that are shown as software modules and/or computer applications.
The input/output module 624 is representative of software that is
used to provide an interface with a device configured to capture
inputs, such as a touchscreen, track pad, camera, microphone, and
so on. Alternatively or in addition, the interface application 622
and the input/output module 624 can be implemented as hardware,
software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Additionally, the
input/output module 624 may be configured to support multiple input
devices, such as separate devices to capture visual and audio
inputs, respectively.
Device 600 also includes an audio and/or video input-output system
626 that provides audio data to an audio system 628 and/or provides
video data to a display system 630, e.g., a touchscreen device. The
audio system 628 and/or the display system 630 can include any
devices that process, display, and/or otherwise render audio,
video, and image data. Video signals and audio signals can be
communicated from device 600 to an audio device and/or to a display
device via an RF (radio frequency) link, S-video link, composite
video link, component video link, DVI (digital video interface),
analog audio connection, or other similar communication link. In an
embodiment, the audio system 628 and/or the display system 630 are
implemented as external components to device 600. Alternatively,
the audio system 628 and/or the display system 630 are implemented
as integrated components of example device 600.
CONCLUSION
Although the invention has been described in language specific to
structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be
understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not
necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described.
Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as example
forms of implementing the claimed invention.
* * * * *
References